Editorials
10 Horror Sequels I’d Like to See in 2015!
We’ve only just begun our descent into the new year and I’m already excited for it. If time were a roller coaster, this would be the bit that comes right after that incredibly slow climb to the top of a hill where the coaster has started its horrifying plunge back to Earth. Depending on who you are, that sudden drop can be the best part, or it can be the worst.
It’s a good thing that’s where the similarities between beginning a new year and riding a roller coaster end. I don’t imagine many of us will be literally losing our heads this year, but I can see a few of us losing them in the figurative sense should this list come true.
Now, before we get into my list of 10 Horror Game Sequels I’d Like to See in 2015, it’s worth mentioning that I don’t expect most of these games to release in 2015. With a few exceptions that I’ll be sure to point out when we get to them, if a game is on this list, that means I’d like to hear from it. That could be a trailer, some new info, a release window, whatever.
All right, let’s go!
Alan Wake 2
I feel like there’s a very good chance that we’ll eventually see a sequel to Alan Wake, which, if you have yet to play it, is easily one of the last generation’s greatest and most underrated video games. It’s a great game with a fervent fan base and a developer that seems very interested in giving the game’s eponymous writer another go.
Established developers have struggled with crowdfunding their games, even if that project is a sequel to a universally beloved survival horror game.
If we hear from Mr. Wake this year, it’ll likely come in the form of another tease.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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